


To Repair With Gold

by QuickSilverFox3



Series: Whumptober 2020 [12]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: All tags do not apply to all drabbles, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, F/F, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injury, Injury Recovery, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani is an Incurable Romantic, M/M, Medical Procedures, Missing Scene, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Suicidal Thoughts, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27134726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickSilverFox3/pseuds/QuickSilverFox3
Summary: The other man watched Nicolo, sword resting across his knees and staring in quiet contemplation. They had fought and died again and again, blood colouring the sand beneath them to ruby hue until they were exhausted, fallen into an uneasy truce.[No 12. I THINK I’VE BROKEN SOMETHING Broken Down | Broken Bones | Broken Trust]
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Lykon & Quynh | Noriko, Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: Whumptober 2020 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947016
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	To Repair With Gold

“Shit!” Quynh swore, beating one hand against the van’s steering wheel as if she could propel it forward even further. A flash of movement in the rearview mirror out of the corner of her eye sent her diving to the floor as bullets shattered both windscreens.

“I’m pinned down,” she hissed down the communicator, banging it against the floor in frustration as she heard nothing but static.

She was running out of time, but her sword was a comfort in her hand, a weight that felt like a reclaimed limb, and she would go down fighting until her last breath.

* * *

Nile stuck out her thumb, cursing as another car sped past her, freezing cold water splattering onto her legs. Her mother’s old mantra about never accepting lifts from strangers echoing in her mind, and she grinned despite the grief that still nestled raw in her heart. 

She could understand Booker’s pain with a greater level of intimacy that she ever wanted to and the thought tormented her. 

Her feet ached as she forced herself to continue walking, throat dry and sweat stinging her eyes with every blink. Dying was only a temporary respite from the endless march across the desert.

* * *

Joe couldn’t breathe. He was aware, dimly, distantly, that he must still be breathing, his heart must still be beating. 

But how could it?

How could he go on?

No-one spoke, but the silence was deafening, broken by Joe’s shuddering breaths. He slowly sank to his knees, Booker following him down after a moment of silent communication over his head. His hand slipped into Joe’s, the press of his skin scalding.

“We need to go,” Booker gently urged, letting Joe lean on him, the words rumbling through his chest. “We’ll come back for Nicky.”

“How can I leave him here?”

* * *

Lykon swung his sword, and Andy moved to counter it as easily as breathing. She could sense Quynh lingering just out of sight as if their hearts had been linked. 

It happened too quickly: Quynh moving to strike, blade lashing out like a viper; Andy shifting to one side, making Lykon move to follow her if he wanted to reduce his bruises; and the blade met flesh with a sickening crack.

They froze, chests heaving as Lykon raised his arm, the hand hanging at an impossible angle. He sat, all energy drained from him, as it snapped back into place.

* * *

“Stop moving!” Nicky had no heat behind his words as he continued his work.

“It hurts!” Andy snapped back, teeth bared before her head slammed back onto the bed, her skin taking on a grey tinge. 

“If this was back in my day, you would be so drunk right now that you couldn't feel a thing,” Nicky told her as he wrapped up the break, touch gentle but decisive, Andy making aborted attempts to pull away.

“I’d forgotten what this felt like,” Andy whispered, so soft he thought it was imagined until he saw the faraway look in her eyes.

* * *

Nile stared up at the sky, broken glass surrounding her and shimmering like fallen stars. Merrick was dead, she was sure of it, but she had to check. 

Bones healing hurt, and she had broken many. Her teeth sank into her lip to muffle her screams as she pushed herself upright. The car alarm pulsed like a heartbeat beneath her and she pushed her way through twisted metal, legs snapping back into place only to be broken again as glass was pushed out of her skin.

Merrick’s eyes stared sightlessly up at her, and a vicious satisfaction filled Nile’s chest.

* * *

“How could you?” Joe repeated, straining against the bonds that held him, now keeping him from Booker rather than restrained away from the guards.

Booker didn’t respond at first, face pale and lined, looking older somehow than they had ever seen him before.

“It wasn’t meant to be like this,” he said finally, keeping his eyes closed even as the lids twitched. “It wasn’t meant to be all of you.”

“You trusted them? More than you trusted us?” Joe demanded, blood high.

“What do you want me to say?” Booker laughed, a hoarse sound. “I deserve death, I always did.”

* * *

Trust was golden in colour, the same shade as the setting sun over the endless desert, turning everything else to deep shadows. Nicolo watched the sun, smelling the remembered smoke from the brazier’s, heavy and thick.

The other man watched Nicolo, sword resting across his knees and staring in quiet contemplation. They had fought and died again and again, blood colouring the sand beneath them to ruby hue until they were exhausted, fallen into an uneasy truce.

Trust may be golden, but the man’s blood was as red as any other as Nicolo struck, bitter surprise on the other’s face.

* * *

_ Stay with me. _

_ Until the end. _

The memories hurt more than the ache in her chest, more than the burn of saltwater against her wounds, more than the exhaustion of dying again and again.

Andy had promised her in a thousand tiny ways: braiding Quynh’s hair when her hands shook too badly to do it herself, restocking her arrows; that they would always be together.

Countless lifetimes spent roaming the earth, and now Quynh was alone.

Rage was cold, the splinters of her broken trust stabbing through her ribs, as Quynh watched Andy through a stranger’s eyes and  _ hated her _ .

* * *

The raised paving stone was neatly hidden behind several years worth of twisted weeds, the perfect height for Joe to step  _ just so _ and go crashing to the ground with a sickening snap. 

“I’ll be fine in a moment,” he murmured to Nicky, who had dropped to his knees, foreheads pressed so close together he could taste the mint of Nicky’s gum.

“Undercover, remember?” Nicky caught sight of the twitched blinds, the raised curtains. 

Joe lay in Nicky’s arms, arms wrapped around his neck as he took full advantage to press kisses to every inch of skin he could reach.

**Author's Note:**

> [ My Tumblr!](https://inkformyblood.tumblr.com) Requests are always welcome!  
> 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[PODFIC] To Repair With Gold](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28375746) by [gracicah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracicah/pseuds/gracicah)




End file.
